I Hate Systems

“The more it goes out of control, the greater its value.” Compass Carburettor smiled in response, “Anyway, I can always make another Forbidden Tale.”

“You can…make it?” Duketace was shocked, “It wasn’t a mystical item?”

“It’s a mystical item, but one I created.” Compass Carburettor said, “The production costs are high, but it’s not impossible to create multiple copies of the same.”

‘Which I plan to do so, but not here.’ He smirked. The goal was to create as many Main Character System fragments in the minds of the populace here. And if in the minds of strong entities, all the better.

And, once a strong entity’s mind is taken over by the Main Character System, it was basically having another Compass Carburettor in the scene.

Compass Carburettor’s true body was within Pilkan, currently a Human Invoker. This meant that for his growth, he needed to consume Mental Fragments from humans.

This allowed him to hunt himself and gain Mental Fragments of the entities whose minds now belonged to the Main Character System. This was the fastest way to develop himself and grow stronger.

Besides, in this world without any System to hinder his plans, it was free real estate for world domination. And the fastest way to achieve that was through the Forbidden Tales.

For that, Duketace would be the best pawn as Compass Carburettor stared at him while they were flying, muttering, “Alright, don’t remain hiding. You can come out now.”

“What?” Duketace was alarmed when suddenly, his eyes turned blank before lighting up once again. Even though his voice was the same, the tone was different, “It feels strange talking to another me like this.”

“That’s how things are at the moment.” Compass Carburettor nodded.

Duketace had already become a dead man the moment he allowed Compass Carburettor to heal his Invoked Spirit. With that, Compass Carburettor’s Mental Fragments made their way into his Dreamland, causing the growth of the Main Character System there to hasten in response.

So, it was only a matter of time before his mind was fully taken over. But, it hadn’t happened yet as the case was different from Pilkan.

Compass Carburettor himself entered Pilkan’s Dreamland, so the takeover process was quick. But, it was only a tiny fragment in Duketace’s mind now. He didn’t have the qualities of the Main Character, so he wasn’t as influenced by the Main Character’s story.

Therefore, the fragment growing in his mind wasn’t strong enough to take over his mind. It was only potent enough to temporarily take over for a few seconds.

“Alright, you can return now. Don’t come out until I summon you.” Compass Carburettor said.

“I know,” Duketace said as his eyes turned blank. A moment later, they regained their lustre as he wondered what happened, staring at his eagle continuing to fly without any change, “Did I blank out for a moment there?”

It was the original Duketace in control now.

“I didn’t notice anything amiss.” Compass Carburettor said, consuming some rations as he was seated on the eagle’s back.

Currently, they were travelling towards the shore in search of Kowla. Those with Eagle Invoked Spirits were the best carriers for his Forbidden Tale. And, before the Lan Clan Head fell under the influence of his Forbidden Tale, he had to rely upon Duketace’s family.

With his support, they would all attain the peak of the Invoker State soon, allowing them to bring the Forbidden Tales to far-off lands and spread it around.

Before that, he needed to manufacture enough Forbidden Tales first, which was easier said than done.

In order to raise its potency, Compass Carburettor took pains to ensure that the content within the Mental Fragments used to construct the Forbidden Tale also coincided with the contents involved in it.

So, the eleven lines there weren’t inscribed but were formed naturally by the Mental Fragments. Similarly, his face too was formed similarly.

They were all created by using the most suited Mental Fragments, which pretty much drained his reserve of Mental Fragments.

If he hadn’t killed Runka, this would have been impossible.

So to create another Forbidden Tale, Compass Carburettor would need to kill at least two to three Superior Human Invokers. And that was only in terms of the quality of the Mental Fragments—given he steals their Invoked Spirits using the mist.

He still needs to chance upon the perfect Mental Fragments to form the verse accurately, otherwise, its potency would fall, preventing it from becoming a mystical item contested for by the reigning powers.

Currently, all Compass Carburettor was aware of was the fact that the first Forbidden Tale was in the hands of the Lan Clan Head. ‘Well, things should heat up here for a while.’

‘Until then…’ He stared at the back of Duketace, ‘I’ll use this family to the limit.’

Holding a pair of binoculars, Compass Carburettor continued to survey the place, looking for any traces of Kowla. Duketace too was doing the same, or rather, he was more pumped up to find her than Compass Carburettor.

As he was aware of his daughter’s character and habits more than anyone, he took the lead in finding her. They didn’t hurry though, taking their sweet time to scour through the potential places.

Soon after, they arrived at a coastal town, scouring through its skies boldly when suddenly, Compass Carburettor smiled, detecting the contents of one of the Mental Energy streams incident on them.

“She’s here.” Duketace’s eyes dimmed for a moment as the Main Character System fragment in him took control, relaying the information obtained from the Mental Energy Streams, pointing in a certain direction, “She’s peeking from the window of that house.”

“She’s here.” Compass Carburettor said the moment Duketace resurfaced in his body, pointing in a direction.

Duketace looked around in a hurry, spotting his daughter right in the direction he pointed at, surprised at the sharpness of Compass Carburettor’s senses as he brought the eagle to the town’s entrance.

“I’ll capture her, my lord.” Duketace saluted in response, “Please wait for the good news.”

“Sure, don’t harm her.” Compass Carburettor waved his hand as he walked towards a rock a certain distance away from the town and sat there, in patience.